When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan's Last Comeback

The Michael Jordan story always seems to be told in extremes. Either he is heralded as an icon so mindlessly that the storytelling appears uninteresting or he is vilified, as previous writers knew the value of tearing down an icon. When Nothing Else Matters is a portrait of a man that feels honest, Jordan is neither vilified nor overly praised; instead Micheal Leahy has given us a view of a man experiencing his only real failure in his career as a professional basketball player. A failure that is proven by the simple fact the Washington Wizards, with Jordan in a powerful position off, then on the court, never ascended the heights of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Eastern Conference. It is a fascinating look at the world's most famous basketball player, during a time period where he seemed unable to transition his on the court reputation and success, to a career in management. Jordan, the man, had grown comfortable being an icon and as his skills faded and his team missed the playoffs, Leahy reveals someone whose disconnect from the world around him made him unable to finesse his way to off the court success. Therefore his last games for the Wizards are revealed to have been one last chance to court the spotlight as a prime-time player, as the chances to move forward off the court didn't exist, Leahy lays out these realities, and Jordan's apparent blindness to them, that shows Jordan as a very accomplished yet out-of-the-loop figure who couldn't overcome his last challenge in the N.B.A. It also makes clear what Micheal Jordan was to the Washington Wizards management, a cash infusion. Leahy's even handed treatment may prevent When Nothing Else Matters from being extreme in its presentation, but it doesn't prevent it from being an extreme success as it stands as a historical document for basketball fans to turn to when looking at a honest portrait of life in the N.B.A.

I am glad to see this book has already generated a good deal of buzz and reviews. I lived in the DC area during the "Jordan Era" both his management of and play for, the Wizards, and I must say (and perhaps I am biased) that this book is a mostly accurate reflection of what many of us suspected about MJ when he came to town. To wit: (1) He had little/no respect for owner Abe Pollin; (2) He installed flunkies in senior management positions, ostensibly to do the scouting, negotiating, etc he apparently was uninterested in doing; (3) His "return" was one part attempt to restore "buzz" around his name and brand and a second part an attempt to whitewash/hide his shortcomings as an executive by pulling the team to near .500; (4) As soon as he retired, Pollin shivved him and showed him the door. In short, there are no "winners" or "good guys" in this story, indeed, everyone comes out looking badly. Jordan is portrayed as a distant, arrogant, demeaning teammate who put his own self interest ahead of his team, even as he was holding the Coach's puppet strings and using the media to communicate not-so-thinly veiled threats at the very people he signed/drafted. Pollin comes across as a money-hungry owner who used Jordan to sell tickets and then tossed him overboard roughly 3.5 seconds after his final game. Ultimately, the relationship was one where both parties were USING the other, there was no trust, no sense of team, no sense of "we're all in this together", so why should be be surprised it blew up so quickly. Leahy has received some heat in other reviews for injecting bias and/or reflecting his own opinion, but hey, THAT'S HIS JOB. He's providing an angle, an opinion, it's his book. MJ or his defenders are free to give their "side" of the story (the jabs at Wilbon are interesting, though not surprising). The truth is, as an executive, MJ was mediocare at best (an opinion I think supported by the fact that he's received exactly ZERO GM/Pres. of Player Personnel offers since leaving DC) as an executive, made a lot of poor decisions (not trading the #1 for Elton Brand and a pick ... idiotic, any fantasy geek would have made that deal in a heartbeat, dealing for Stack and giving up a good young player in Rip Hamilton, useless signings like Oakley, Laettner, etc .. the list goes on and on). He did not move to DC, rarely was in town (sightings became media events they were so rare), seemed to have an entitlement and perogative about how he did things that hey, if I was an owner, I would be peeved about too. As Leahy points out, MJ had poor/little appreciation for Pollin and the importance he placed on loyalty. Did Pollin use MJ, clearly, and his motives were far from pure, but it's also his team, no one made MJ come to DC. Before you start crying for MJ and his departure, consider that he got Coach Collins a $10 million severance, payouts for the rest of his personally hand picked lower management and still had his hundreds of millions int

This is a groundbreaking book in many respects. I am an ardent NBA fan but have found it nearly impossible to find 'real' biographies on the real goings-on in NBA locker rooms. I believe most sportswriters are either afraid to anger their sources (many examples of that in this book) or lack the journalistic know how to do in-depth reporting. I thouroughly enjoyed the book. It paints a detailed picture of an NBA locker room and the dysfunctionalities that go on. I came away with a very clear picture of Jordan as a sad figure in a sense who is self-absorbed, immature and really has little understanding of life beyond the small and plastic world he inhabits. I actually felt somewhat sorry for him by the end of the book. The portrait came as no suprise given the surreal environment and idolic treatment these athletes (who in the big picture put a ball through a hoop for a living though God bless em for it) receive at a very early age. You can't really blame Jordan as he is a product of his stilted environment. On the other hand, it makes those ads and "Be Like Mike' endorsements ring hollow and ironic. The book is also an interesting study on how fans need athletes to validate themselves. From the Wizards minority owner who basically buys Jordan's aquantance for a piece of his stake in the franchise to the reporters who feel privilaged to ask Jordan a 'staged' question even if they aren't doing any real reporting. To the Wizards (Collins)coach who is so enamored of Jordan that he is afraid to make a move without his approval to the detriment of the team. This is a book for true NBA or Jordan followers or those interested in the distorted relationship between pro athletes and their fans. I have a lot of respect for this author for daring to accurately report a man-God. It should be noted that the author did not get into any 'sleazy' details of Jordan's life but striclty used his behavior/interactions in the locker room environment to define his subject. The book did make me appreciate the rare elite athlete who still manages to have strong values and character despite the temptations and obstacles in his way.

Leahy was very honest in his book on MJ's last 2 seasons. It was a sad read for me, being an ardent MJ fan. The book showed me that MJ is human like the rest of us, and his success had gotten to his head. Leahy's book is not biast and it is at times VERY amusing. It was an extremely good read. I rate it as one of the top 50 books I've read over the last 27 years.

This is the finest book I've ever read on Michael Jordan. It is one of the best sports books written in many years, I think. What Michael Leahy has done so magnificently is wipe away the stardust from our eyes and enable to see what the Jordan comeback meant to the star, a city and a struggling team. It is sympathetic in parts, and tough in parts. It is unflinchingly honest and brilliantly written. The way he writes about basketball games was reason alone for me to devour the book. The writing is so vivid and powerful. And I thought I was seeing Jordan for the first time. I finished the book thinking I finally understood the measure of his psyche, and the pressures bearing on him, and the stresses felt by his teammates and others who seemed to chafe under his incessant demands that they either win or satisfy his other demands. Leahy does an outstanding job of putting the media under the microscope too, which was pretty eye-opening, with his point clearly being that the media in many cases gave Jordan flattering publicity in exchange for the hope that they might receive special access to him. The portrait here of everything in the two seasons is gripping. One of my favorite parts was reading of the day-to-day interaction of Jordan with his teammates and coaches, the preparing for games, the pressures building, the teammates deferring, the coach's anxiety wrenching and impossible to conceal. Some of his young teammates seem like terrific guys, caught up in a difficult situation that had them reeling. The story is so compelling and wonderfully told that I found myself feeling sympathy for all of them. They seem so boxed in, especially Jordan. The book was a great exploration of the effect of long-term celebrity on a sports idol, how stars get caught in a bubble and are often the last to see the major problems about to pull them down. I hope for the best for Jordan, but I think there is an overarching lesson in the book about the dangers of being too focused on a game to the exclusion of many other things, which is a lesson for all athletes. The game was everything to Jordan, and maybe that was not all for the good always. I hope Leahy has in mind another book on athletes and the sports culture. This book here is one powerful and sensational piece of work.